Do you have what it takes to attract the best employees?

Jante Diaz

September 27, 2018

From pay to benefits to culture, employee branding is how your business is viewed by the world. What do you want your company to be? How do you want your company to be seen? When creating this image, you should look at it as the key to attract the best employees and also the key to keeping them.

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You’ve done the legwork to figure what you want in an employee, but what can you offer to get that perfect hire? With unemployment at a low, it’s an employee’s market not an employer’s market right now meaning – it's the employers competing for the best employees, not the candidates competing for employers. In Forbes hiring predictions for 2018, they predicted that recruiting for all companies will be more challenging.

How people see your company affects how attractive your company is to candidates. Keep your employees happy and they will promote your company on their own. Reputation is an important part of any business. It’s the reason companies like Google always sits on the top list for best places to work and why you should model your business after them.

So how do you attract candidates and keep the best talent with employer branding?

Put yourself in their shoes.

Perks, compensation, and all the in-betweens – was there something you wished your employer had and would’ve stayed if only?

Remember that you are hiring people, not just skills, so try to put yourself in your candidate’s shoes. If you were looking for a job, what would woo you over and lure you into applying for the job and once there, what would get you to stay?

Pay

This one is obviously important and always at the top of everyone’s minds, both potential hires and employers. Landing the role is one thing, but what does the compensation look like? Make sure you do some homework in determining a competitive salary.

To get an idea of what kind of salary a candidate might expect, you should research the median pay for the position as well as assess the position on what their duties might look like. You should also determine a maximum and a minimum you are willing to offer.

If you can’t afford to offer the most competitive pay, this is where you should take advantage of the other parts.

Benefits

A pet-friendly office, midday surf sessions, health insurance, and paid time off are just some examples of benefits the can enhance the pay. These benefits can be dependent on what your business does and what it represents.

Midday surf sound a bit odd? Not if you’re an outdoor lifestyle brand like Patagonia. If you want your employees to be excited by your brand, inspire them and they will naturally promote your business. Keep your employees happy.

Then there are the other things like health insurance essential for every employer to offer, especially in America where there isn’t universal healthcare. Providing employees with healthcare can make or break a company

Culture

Free food. A fridge full of ice-cold beer. On-site gym. Game room. These are some perks that contribute to company culture and helps shape a candidate’s idea of what the employer is like. It also helps a candidate know how they’ll fit into the company. Good company culture goes deeper than its perks, it’s rooted in its core values.

Take Starbucks for example.

A Summary of “The Starbucks Experience”

Starbucks has become a top global brand by sticking to five key principles

“Make it your own” – Customize the experience.

“Everything matters” – Focus on every aspect of the job. Never ever lose your focus on your customer’s experience and point of view.

“Surprise and delight” – Do the unexpected to make buying a cup of coffee enjoyable.

“Embrace resistance” – Learn from your mistakes.

“Leave your mark” – Do your job so that your customers remember you.

Here at Happo our values are:

1. Share Energy - We want to be a source of energy and we become this by sharing energy with each other.

2. Show Heart - A good life comes down to caring for others and being cared for.

3. Beat Yesterday - When everyone strives to beat yesterday’s performance, we become stronger and smarter as an entire company.

4. Be X-wise - Our parent company is AWX, hence the X. And we should embody our culture.

Not only does culture help attract the best hires, but also pushes these great people to do their best work. When employees are happy with their job, it will most often translate into their work and will be evident to customers.

When creating a benefits package, it is important to note that in order to offer generous benefits, you must do some careful financial planning. You should also try to understand the unique needs of the people in your workforce and of those you wish to attract. Each generation comes with their own needs.

In the end, it comes down to your ability to create a meaningful human connection and bridge the gap between work and who they are as a person. Be flexible and open to negotiation and ask employees what they want. The benefits and salary can often balance each other out and make the compensation package a perfect match for the person.

Employees want to feel a part of something and work towards greatness among people they enjoy being around.